Volnay, Champans, 1er Cru, 2016

All velvet and silk. Alluring red berry, hedgerow and Victoria Plum fruit flavours. Charming, enveloping and bursting with lacy, luscious fruit, counterbalanced by a sufficient kick of freshness to leave you wanting more. Pure seduction. A big vineyard in the middle of prime Premier Cru Volnay territory on the south side of the village below Taillepieds, well exposed to the south-east. The soil is redder here than higher up the slope. At the top of the vineyard the soil is very rocky but becomes deeper and more clay influenced towards the bottom of the slope, giving some of the most complete Volnays that, despite ageing very well, can be extremely rewarding in youth.

A truly great Burgundian domaine with an illustrious history that began in 1804, Domaine Marquis d'Angerville first made a name for itself in the early 1900s when Sem, Marquis d'Angerville, pioneered domaine-bottled Burgundy alongside his friend Henri Gouges. The estate was inherited by his son Jacques in 1952, who took the domaine to ever greater heights over an extraordinary and brilliant career spanning 52 vintages. In 2003 the current proprietaire, Guillaume, Marquis d'Angerville, took over after his father Jacques' tragic and premature passing.

This wonderful Volnay estate Domaine spans 15 ha in total, of which 12 are devoted to Volnay - the vast majority of which are Premiers Crus. The Domaine's vineyards are no more than 15 minutes' walk from each other, yet the resulting wines boast such different personalities. These are Burgundies that not only offer immense pleasure and drinkability, they also represent a veritable masterclass in the effect of terroir on wine. The jewel in the domaine's crown is, without question, the Clos des Ducs, Monopole. One of the great crus of the Cote de Beaune, the earliest records of Clos des Ducs, can be found in 1507. The size of the Clos then is exactly the same as it is today 2.15 ha or 52 ouvrees

Guillaume is meticulous and shows an unstinting commitment to producing the best wine he can whilst staying faithful to Volnay's special terroir. The vine growing and winemaking is based on the philosophy of respecting and working with nature. The Domaine's move to Bio-dynamic viticulture in 2006 is central to this, a process that began with the appointment the year before of the talented Francois Duvivier as regisseur, to oversee this conversion. Rigorous manual work is carried out in the vineyard, therefore, whilst the winemaking is as gentle and respectful to the wines as possible. These are polished Volnays of purity, precision and style, nothing is over-done or out of balance, extractions are soft and new oak is no more than it needs to be, a maximum of 20%. The characteristics of grape, vintage and terroir resonate brightly through each wine.

An appellation in the Côte de Beaune between Meursault on the south side and Pommard on the north side. The wines are distinctly different from those of Pommard, lighter in colour and more elegant. They have always been known as delicate, fruity feminine and very fine wines, even a century ago the wines were described as "partridge-eye" pink in colour and the finest of all the wines of the Côte de Beaune. Whilst often displaying great charm and fruit in their youth the best Volnay often have considerable power too and can be very ageworthy.

More than half Volnay's vineyards are of premier cru status and one of these, Les Santenots, has a foot in two communes - its red wines are Volnay and its whites are Meursault. Aswell as the Santenots du Milieu Volnay has a plethora of other fine vineyards: Le Cailleret, Clos des Chênes, Champans, Taillepieds, the Clos de la Bousse d'Or, monopole of Domaine de la Pousse d'Or, and perhaps the most lauded of them all, the Clos des Ducs, a monopole of Marquis d'Angerville, one of the pioneering estates of Domaine-bottled Burgundy in the 1930s. Volnay's finest producers include Marquis d'Angerville, Michel Lafarge and de Montille.

Pinot Noir is the classic grape of red burgundy, whose greatest wines are concentrated in the east and south-east-facing clay/limestone hills of Burgundy's Côte d'Or. A notoriously temperamental variety, Pinot Noir has proved difficult to grow in certain climates and soils and will not tolerate over-cropping. The best examples have wonderfully expressive aromas and thrillingly pure bitter sweet red forest fruit and cherry flavours, developing truffle and game overtones with age. Outside of Burgundy, Pinot Noir has had great success in New Zealand, California’s Carneros, Oregon and the more marginal, cooler districts in Australia. Along with Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir is also one of the major components of Champagne.

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Tax Status Explained

IB stands for In Bond. Wines that are stored In Bond have not had UK Duty and VAT paid on them.

Most of our wines are available for purchase under bond, as fine wines often need to be laid down in order to allow them to mature. Many clients choose therefore to store them in our bonded warehouse and pay the tax as and when they wish to get the wines delivered. Please note that Wines purchased In Bond can be exported to non-EU countries without the need for Duty and VAT to be paid.

DP stands for duty paid. If you wish to get wines delivered for drinking, the duty and VAT will need to be paid as it leaves its bonded state in the warehouse. The wine is then said to be duty paid.

All taxes must be paid in order for us to be authorised to ship or deliver wine (unless the wine is bonded and being moved to another bonded warehouse or being shipped directly outside of the EU.)

EP stands for En Primeur. These wines are currently held with the Estate and Domaine’s we work with and will be shipped in due course.